Corporate Plan 2004-2008 - Improving Housing & The Environment

North Lanarkshire's image is still largely one of declining heavy industry, and our natural advantages and recent improvements are undervalued. The challenge we face is to promote North Lanarkshire as an attractive place to live, work and visit by increasing opportunities for recreation, leisure and tourism.

The residents' survey identified street cleaning and clearing litter as priorities. Our Street Smart campaign will focus on improving the condition of streets and open spaces, while raising awareness about environmental issues. The residents' survey also listed refuse collection as one of our most important services. With significant investment in managing waste, we have already achieved major improvements in recycling and will continue to do so in the future.

There are still many areas of derelict and contaminated land. However, since our last corporate plan, the amount of derelict land has reduced from 27% to 20% of Scotland's overall total. We will continue work to bring this land back into use.

Background to housing
We want North Lanarkshire to be a place where people enjoy good-quality housing. This reflects the results of the residents' survey which gave high priority to making sure affordable and good-quality housing is available.

According to the 2001 Census there are around 136,000 homes in North Lanarkshire. Of these, 58% are owner-occupied (slightly less than the Scottish average), and 2% are rented from a private landlord, making this one of the smallest private-rented sectors in Scotland. The council owns 42,000 houses, more than any other local authority in Scotland, although this number is reducing as tenants buy their homes. In some areas, such as Cumbernauld and Moodiesburn, there is a considerable shortage of council and housing association properties. In other areas, there is a need to improve the choice of housing in terms of type, size, location, condition and facilities.

A survey of the condition of our housing stock confirms that, on average, our council houses are in a better condition than others in Scotland. However, some homes in the private sector are in a particularly poor condition. Issues such as energy efficiency and 'fuel poverty' (where people spend too much of their income on fuel) have a significant effect on all types of housing.

There are 12,000 households on our housing waiting list and tackling homelessness is still an important issue for us. There are also increasing numbers of people with particular needs who need a range of suitable housing and associated support services. Working with our partners, we aim to meet these needs through initiatives such as 'A Joint Future' and 'Supporting People'.

Our aims are as follows.

• To improve the environment
• To meet housing needs
• To help people with particular needs
• To provide high-quality housing services
• Our intended outcomes are as follows.

Our outcomes are as follows.

• For £750,000 to be invested in the roads into North Lanarkshire to increase satisfaction with the environment, and to have an increased range of, and improved access to, green areas.
• For at least £8 million to be invested in derelict land, for the amount of waste to be reduced, for increased recycling and increased use of alternative fuels.
• To offer an improved choice of housing in terms of area, affordability, type of tenancy, type of home, and size and design of home.
• For housing conditions to be improved in all homes.
• To offer an improved range of housing and support options for vulnerable households.
• For levels of satisfaction among tenants and service users to be higher.

Aim 1 – To improve the environment
Actions we will take

1. Improve streets and open spaces through the Street Smart campaign and the Open Space strategy, upgrade access routes and develop landscapes, create three 'Green Gym' projects and six Friends of Parks' associations, improve the quality of buildings and their surroundings by promoting good design and protecting valued features, and publish our Urban Design Framework during 2004.
2. Work with our partners to introduce our local biodiversity action plan in order to protect local wildlife.
3. Regenerate derelict, vacant and contaminated land, and invest £8 million (with our partners) by 2008 to bring land back into use for commercial, residential and recreational purposes.
4. Improve waste management, use training and awareness campaigns to further improve recycling and recycle at least 25% of household waste by the end of 2006.
5. Promote community regeneration, work with our partners to regenerate priority areas and support sustainable communities, raise awareness of quality environments, make communities feel more responsible for their surroundings, and apply for four design and regeneration awards each year.
6. Increase our use of alternative fuels in our transport.
7. Test run the introduction of community wardens in two areas by 2005 and extend to other areas by 2006.

Aim 2 – To meet housing needs
Actions we will take

1. Help with, and encourage, the building of 500 new rented and 3,475
2. owner-occupied homes to meet need and the anticipated rise in household numbers by 2008.
3. Deal with the oversupply of council housing in certain areas through targeted investment and, where appropriate, demolition.
4. Increase the percentage of council houses meeting the Scottish Social Housing Standard each year, improve on this by developing a North Lanarkshire Standard, which reflects our tenants' priorities, and invest over £38 million a year in our housing stock.
5. By 2008, develop a strategy to reduce by 30% the number of households living in fuel poverty.
6. Develop a strategy to improve housing conditions in the private sector, invest over £2 million each year in providing grants, and make sure the number of houses falling below the acceptable standard is reduced by 20% by 2008.

Aim 3 – To help people with particular needs
Actions we will take

Aim 4 – To provide high-quality housing services
Actions we will take

1. Continue to develop management services to keep to the 'Single Regulatory Framework' which sets out standards the Scottish Executive will use to assess the quality of our housing services.
2. Introduce a common housing register for housing with us and other landlords and, by 2006, review our policy for offering tenancies to make sure people get accommodation that meets their needs.
3. Introduce an investment business plan for council houses to better target resources.
4. Invest in our housing stock by spending over £10 million a year on improving their energy efficiency, over £10 million a year on major repairs, over £3 million a year on home safety and security, and over £2 million a year on upgrading the insides of homes.